Fire accidents since Independence – A timeline

From The Hindu’s archives, a look at some of major fire accidents across the country since Independence

Seven newborns died and 12 were rescued following a fire that took place at the Baby Care New Born Hospital, a children’s hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar on May 26. Just a day before, a massive fire broke out at the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot, Gujarat, claiming the lives of 33 people, including nine children below the age of 16.

We looked into The Hindu’s archives and found that fire accidents across the country have caused extensive loss of life and property over the years.

Also read | Preparing for fires

Here’s a timeline of some major fire accidents over the past six decades:

Madurai, Tamil Nadu April 4, 1964: 36 persons, including 35 girls were killed and 139 injured seriously at the Saraswathi Vidyasala Higher Elementary School, Maninagaram, Madurai. The superstructure of the two-storeyed building, which was constructed out of brick and mortar on the granite compound wall of a tomb, collapsed. Though town planning authorities had refused permission to build the school, the construction went ahead without following even basic principles of engineering and safety measures.

Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, July 29, 1979: 46 adults and 32 children were killed in a fire accident in a touring cinema at Lourdammalpuram, Tuticorin, of whom 73 died on the spot and five succumbed to injuries in hospital; 88 people were injured. The fire broke out around 4.30 p.m. when the matinee show was on. The thatch-roofed cinema with wooden poles and rafters was reduced to ashes. The fire broke out in the women’s enclosure, and most of the victims were women and children from a fishing community. Despite a Tamil Nadu government notification in December 1976 calling for the installation of fire extinguishers in all cinema halls, it was resisted by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and the Tamil Nadu Exhibitors’ Association on the grounds of the high cost. The government relented and reduced in February 1978 the extra number of extinguishers it wanted to be installed.

Bangalore, February 8, 1981: 92 people were killed in a fire, 56 of them children, and 300 injured when a fire broke out in the Venus Circus. A special show for schoolchildren was taking place when the burning roof of the Venus Circus collapsed, setting off a stamped; over 4,000 people were in the tent at the time and the fire was caused by sparks from high tension wires at the site that fell on the tarpaulin-roofed tent. The Gundu Rao government ordered an inquiry into the incident.